Rally to host fashion show promoting Casper's small businesses

When Kristin Schaeffer moved to Casper three years ago, she was not impressed with the shopping scene. On the surface, Casper was an oil town, lacking boutique stores or unique enterprises. Within a year, Schaeffer met Nicole Crabb, also new to Casper, who felt the same way.

Were there any creative businesses in town? The answer had always been yes, but it took some time for Schaeffer and Crabb to realize it.

“We started to discover the people, downtown, the merchants, the business owners, the different stores. It took us a while to find everybody,” Schaeffer said. “We figured out that Casper under the surface is bubbling with amazing things. There are great people out there opening really neat shops. You don’t have to go to Denver to get really great shopping. You can do it right here.”

Schaeffer and Crabb figured they were not the only ones who had trouble finding Casper’s hidden gems. Schaeffer had a background in graphic design and web developing. Crabb worked for a fashion magazine in Denver. Both were experienced in the advertising industry, so in the spring, they opened their own small business.

It’s called Rally, a branding and interactive firm making advertising and marketing affordable for small and local businesses in Casper.

“There are tons of new people in Casper all the time because of the oil fields," Schaeffer, 36, said. "There are so many people who don’t know what this place is like. They don’t realize that it’s great.”

Rally will host quarterly events, its first ever taking place Saturday. It’s a fashion show, but as Schaeffer says, “It’s not going to be your every day fashion show.”

The goal of the event is to make advertising more affordable for small businesses during Christmas season shopping. The evening, hosted by Scarlows Gallery, will include the fashion show, beer tasting from Wonder Bar, live music, a DJ, break dancers and more. Tickets are $15, and can be purchased at the featured shops for the event: PetuniaZ Jewelry, Derby Boutique, Fashion Crossroads, Inc., Windy City Books and Goedicke’s Arts & Crafts.

“Our goal for Rally is to show people, new people coming in (to town) or people who have lived here for a while but don’t get out a lot, that Casper is cool.”